Why the Game can’t make it

Of course any artist that's ridonkulous enough is going to inspire a certain degree of fanaticism, and the Game would certainly appear to be no exception. His Black Wall Street stans have been popping up in various web forums the past couple of days, trying to spin his being dropped from Aftermath. I wonder if they have a point.

One of the main points they bring up is that the Game got $50 million for switching over to Geffen. I've yet to see this reported anywhere that wasn't a comments section, but I'm willing to except it as fact for the sake of an argument. Only thing is, it's not like a record label is going to just give the guy $50 million because they like the beats on the Documentary.

If Geffen records has given him any money at all, it's obviously as a loan, under the assumption that he's going to continue to do Documentary-like numbers. Which is all fine and dandy, I suppose, but now he's gotta actually move those units. He'll sell a few records, but can the Game do 4 million or whatever without Dr. Dre and 50 Cent, especially in times like these?

His Black Wall Street stans are also suggesting that the Game will continue to work with Dr. Dre, which would seem less than likely to me. If the Game and Black Wall Street no longer fall under Dre's Aftermath imprint, then where is Dre's financial stake in the matter one way or the other? It would seem to me that Dre would be better off working with Em and Fiddy.

Also, you'd think that if Dre gave a shit one way or the other we'd have a statement from him at this point. So far, the closest thing we have is Aftermath's statement that the Game is no longer on the label. Which I took to mean their working relationship is essentially over. If I had to guess, I'd say there might be Dre beats on the Doctor's Advocate, but otherwise that's it.

Like I said, I'm as interested in checking out the Doctor's Advocate as almost any other rap album this year. But it seems obvious to me that the Game won't be able to replicate the success of the Documentary without input from Dr. Dre and 50 Cent, let alone on a label like Geffen which isn't exactly known for its expertise in promoting hip-hop artists.

[Note: When I mentioned the other day that the Game is now signed to a label named after a guy who always has that look on his face like he just swallowed a man's chode, I failed to mention that he also shares his moniker with the 1980 album by Queen - the one with "Another One Bites the Dust" and "Crazy Little Thing Called Love. Hmm...]